Snowflake in a Snowstorm
by WhoTaughtQrow
Summary: Winter Schnee. The original Ice Queen. Was she always so cold? Or did a journey lead her there...
1. Chapter 1

" **Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so." - Ford Prefect from Douglas Adams' _Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy_ (I really should read that, The movie was damn good. Maybe I will borrow it from my sister when I am back visitin...wait, what was I doing again? Oh yeah! An intro!)**

 **I'm back! Well, for now. Study started up and time got away from me but I found this old thing that I wrote in my breaks when I was working in a vineyard. For those wondering, yes, I will be continuing on with my other RWBY story (feel free to check it out :)**  
 **A Weiss Choice to Make** **) and possibly my other stories? I'm not really motivated to write my Doctor Who/Tron one, But who knows. I have some ideas for my COD Zombies one! Depends on how busy I am. I only got this one out for the hype for Volume 4 and had to dust off the ending and polish it up.**

 **Obviously, this is all based on RWBY, property of Roosterteeth so its their universe and stuff. Created by the wonderful Monty Oum. Rest in all miss you, I wish I had the chance to meet you...**

 **But I digress, here is a new story of Winter Schnee! What led her to be who she is? This is my take from pre-Volume 4. So my stories will be set in a seperate universe from them. But enjoy!**

 **Huge shout out to my wonderful sister for being my editor! I am imaginative as hell, but whether my sentence makes sense or not is up in the air. She is the one who made it readable.**

* * *

The thunder echoed throughout the vast halls of Schnee Manor, resounding everywhere from the elegant library to the young Winter Schnee's room. She jumped when it reached her, mistaking it for her father's voice. She took a deep breath as looked at her Scroll. She had discovered from her friends that the acceptance letters for Beacon Academy had returned, telling them if they had passed and were allowed to attend or not. Winter had applied not long ago but more importantly, she had done so without telling her father.

Looking back, the idea seemed idiotic to even think about applying, let alone actually follow through. Her father enjoyed having a say in her life. Many a nights had been wasted with fruitless argument for independence. Winter sighed and closed her eyes in preparation for her father's reaction and the foretold argument to follow. It was met early with a roar that would put thunder to shame, by uttering a single word that came from the depths within the home: "WHAT?!"

Winter winced at the noise, imagining the look on his face. While she enjoyed rebelling against him, he tended to blur moral lines when his anger fell out of hand. Winter jumped when a quiet but sharp knock surprised her from her door.

"Miss Schnee?" a servant asked as she recomposed herself. "Are you in there?"

"Enter," she said coolly, in an attempt to cover her fear, to keep up her family's image to the servants as the perfect rich family.

"Your father is urgently requesting your presence," he said as he opened the door. Winter saw him and was a little shocked. The servant was pale and even though it was trying to remain hidden, the way he was visibly shaken showed through. She was shocked that her father had actually lost his cool in front of the servants. He was all about family image.

"I bet he does..." Winter muttered so he wouldn't hear before addressing him. "Very well, I shall follow you to see him." She got up and took a deep breath and pulled the hem of her shirt down so she looked proper. She was screaming internally not to follow, to make a dash for it and make a excuse and leave, but it was too late. She had already got up to follow the servant. No turning back now. She followed him through the halls to her father's study. She entered and it looked like a cross between a bedroom, lounge, and library. The room's bold white coloured walls contrasted from all the pale blue furniture, from the two large rug welcoming the room's entrance to the two couches that were positioned in front of the bold blue flames of the fire. Bookcases covered the walls with the the exception of the wall sized window that covered the wall behind his desk on the room's second level. To its left was a large portrait of her mother, and to the right was more bookcases. Her father stood behind the desk staring out at the city of Atlas below, his back turned to her. She used this small amount of time to look at the picture of her mother.

It was a full length portrait that captured her with her hands behind her back and stood to attention. She looked as she always did. Her pale blue with darker blue tipped hair travelled halfway down her back, except for the single ponytail she had coming from the side of her head. She wore a simple light blue dress that was covered in a silver breastplate and shin guards. Her long navy trench coat with a hood on was wrapped around her. She was in white crystalline heels and stood with ease. Though Winter was normally used to her father's ice blue eyes being full of sadness and anger, her mother's were filled with happiness and kindness to compliment her small smile.

Winter was snapped back to reality when her father addressed her. "Imagine my surprise," he said calmly while he still faced away from her, "when I arrived home from my usual busy day of work, exhausted with the promise of more work to be completed at home, and I discovered a letter from Beacon Academy detailing how much of a pleasure it would be for them to have you attend their school. Most of your poor life choices can be sorted right by the servants but this time you have gone too far". Winter stood there in shook, overwhelmed by the combination of being told that Beacon was more than happy to have her, and the cruel cold words he had just said about her.

"I...", was as far as Winter got while he sighed and over powered her with his powerful voice. She knew she had already lost. Most arguments were lost when her father began it.

"Winter," he said after his sigh, lowering his head to press against the window away from her. "I had hoped that with time these rebellious and childish outbursts would be grown out of you. This subtle path is not going to work so I am going to be blunt with you, daughter of mine." Winter closed her mouth and crossed her arms, standing as she was adamantly against sitting down but still curious about what he had to say. "If you let me speak uninterrupted, I'll explain the plan that was laid out for you," he said, straightening his head and placing a hand in the other behind his back.

"You, Winter, are destined to take my place as the owner of the Schnee Dust Company and to carry on the Schnee name in all its greatness and power. Your mother was chosen by my father as a compatible partner so you would gain our families powerful hereditary Semblance, as well be physically brought up to be a strong leader and woman. Regardless of her previously promised 'righteous path' as a huntress, my father chose her to be my perfect partner to continue our family into a stronger age, so that we may grow and become stronger and no one could stand against you and you would have nothing to fear. This is your destiny, Winter and this is why I cannot allow you to go study at Beacon. You still have much to learn about the family business and how to run it. I cannot compromise on this Winter, you must take the company from me and you must be ready for that time."

Winter was stunned. This amount of information was too much. Her father had been controlling the strings of her life like a puppet master so that she would go towards this life she didn't want.

"If it is true you want me to honour the family name, I can do it in a whole new way and grow from..." Winter tried to change her father's mind, her calm voice holding back repressed anger, but it was to no avail.

"You will keep to the tradition and the path at hand," he said sternly as he too showed how he was visibly repressing his own anger. "I have spoken, Winter and that is final."

"Couldn't Weiss just..." Winter began, breaking her normal calm posture and tone and unfolding her arms to take a defiant stance.

"Weiss is off the table," her father cut through her sharp and coldly. "You need not concern yourself with her anymore."

"What are you talking about?" Winter asked in concern. Her sister meant the world to her.

"She was...not a part of the plan," he said as he dramatically relaxed his muscles to show his loss of restraint. "She is nothing more than a drunken mistake I made with your mother. She will not be around for long. She is Schnee blood but she is also a liability to the family and how she chooses her partner. One is sufficient so two is not required. The public know of her existence so there may be a accident on the horizon..."

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?!" Winter screamed as she cut him off for the first time ever, finally snapping as he went too far. "How can you be so focused on the family name, and how it continues, to talk in such a way about your own flesh and blood? Mother would never have..."

It was at this point that it was his turn to snap. She barely could react. He blurred as he used his Aura and a glyph beneath his feet to spin around and piece her with those cold blue eyes. She barely made it to the hilt of her premium schooling edition sword as he already unsheathed his sword and slashed it in her direction. As he swung he pulled the trigger in the hilt to ignite the Dust clip loaded in the base of the sword. Blue ice dust swung around at her, encasing her in a crystalline formation from her feet that reached up to her chest. There she was, frozen and defenceless.

"Do not presume to know what your mother would have done, let alone bring her up at all!" Her father yelled back at her, sword still raised and aimed at her, his eyes alight with anger still locked on her. "Now listen to me," he said as he walked down from behind his desk towards her. "You will follow through with this plan, too much time and effort has gone into it. I will write back to Beacon and Professor Ozpin and inform him that we will humbly decline the opportunity and have a different course of life to take. You will stay here and follow the life graciously given to you. I will assemble the best tutors of business, accounting, leadership and economics and you will learn everything you will need. You will forget these stupid childish dreams of fighting to defend strangers. Do I make myself clear?"

Winter was initially afraid when he had frozen her, but during his speech it had worn off and she defiantly relaxed her face and turned it away from him as best she could when he posed the question. Colour rose in his normally pale face and another glyph appeared beneath him and he blurred to be right in front of her with the sword blade inches from her neck as he yelled in repetition, "AM I UNDERSTOOD?!"

She turned her head back to him to glare and say with attitude and coolness, "Understood."

"Very well," he said, swinging his sword back behind him to charge up and then slash at the ice, stopping just before the blade made contact. The shockwave produced by the sword cut cleanly into the ice and caused it to shatter. Unfortunately for Winter, the shockwave followed through and struck her in the side. Her Aura would help repress most of the damage from the slash from being a clean cut through her, but she knew it would probably bruise up at the least, maybe even bleed. "You may leave".

Winter fell and clutched her side where she had been struck and wheezed as she weakly stood back up. Her father had already walked back to his desk and picked up his Scroll, probably to message Beacon and completely crush her dreams. She left unsteadily through the door and leaned back on it once it was closed.

She closed her eyes as she went through all the information she had just been given. It was too much. Everything was being ruined, her life being torn apart. She clenched her fists and kicked off the door as she opened her eyes and punched a single punch into the opposite wall. Her Aura took most of the pain and she felt better, but it still scared her. Considering the argument they had just had, if her father saw what she had just done, or the servants saw how dysfunctional their family actually was, it would be tenfold of what had just happened. She quickly looked around as she heard a servant approach. The wall was covered in large paintings. While her mother had been the one who was actually interested in the culture they represented, her father approved their symbol of wealth. She found one that was tall and wide enough to cover the hole and placed to lean against the wall and hide it. As she did, the servant approached.

"Is there anything you need, Miss Schnee?", he asked obediently, bowing slightly as she saw her. Winter cocked her head to one side, thinking briefly. There was only one thing that stood out to her - that she needed to calm down.

"Could you tell me where my sister is?" she asked boldly, barely managing to cover up her anger and act like a Schnee always should.

"Ah yes, young Miss Weiss Schnee went to bed just an hour ago. I believe she had just been reading fairy tales to the servants to practise her reading and speaking. I believe she did quite well with the story of the Four Maidens," he responded quickly, straightening out of his slight bow.

"Very good, I shall go and check on her. Can you please see to it that this painting is sorted out?" she replied and walked off through the hallways.

"Of course, Miss Schnee, I don't know what it is doing down, I will get men onto it right now!" he said after her as she left the scene.

It wasn't long before she arrived at her sister's door. She stopped to looked at the decorations on it. It was lightly covered in the family's Semblance glyphs. These were much more simplified than the ones that actually appeared when they used their Semblance. Winter sighed. She wished that using the glyphs were as simple as that, but she knew from experience that was not the case. Winter herself hadn't completely mastered the Semblance, but she wasn't bad. She still had to focus on summoning, as all she could do was make basic things. Winter softly turned the door handle and quietly pushed the door open. She cautiously peeked her head into the younger girl's room and smiled at the situation.

The room was lightly lit with a cyan nightlight that showed the young girl silently sleeping. Winter could easily imagine the previous scene, as she was a usual at the events. Weiss would've been seated proudly on her bed as she read out to a audience of paid business men in suits who worked for their father, sitting in child-sized seats. Now, Winter entered as she tried to keep quiet to avoid waking her little sister. She pulled a child's chair from the stack that had without a doubt been cleaned up by a small squad of servants and sat down beside Weiss. She looked down at her and saw her slightly troubled expression as she slept. Winter brushed some hair out of her sister's eyes and started singing.

"Mirror...tell me something...tell me who's the loneliest of all?"

It had been her mother's last musical piece she composed before her untimely death. Before she had joined the huntress style of life, she had been known as The Woman With A Voice of Silk. Winter had overheard grown-ups talking about her mother as she grew up, stating that her mother's methodical and logical thinking combined with her musical and rhythmical skill set gave her a impossibly difficult fighting style which she had mastered, and which made her nearly unstoppable. Winter sighed as she remembered all her happy memories she had of her mother. Running to her mother when she returned home from a mission, then running together to her mother's study to play the piano together and talk about anything. Weiss was there too after she was born, but only to be watched as she was too young to join in. Looking back, her mother had seemed quite stressed when Weiss came around. With what Winter had learned today, this revelation did not surprise her as much as it would have before.

Winter couldn't hold back a single tear as she finished up the last line of the song, "I'm the loneliest of...all..." The song must have had more meaning than Winter had realised at the time. Winter wiped the tear from her face and looked back at Weiss. It seemed the singing had calmed her down and she wore a small smile. Winter soon replicated the smile, at the sight of the happiness she had brought her sister. Winter lightly kissed Weiss' forehead and quietly got up and left the room.

Once the door closed, Winter began to walk away down the hallway before a painful reminder of her injury from her father caused her to clutch her side and lean against the wall. This brought about a flare of anger in Winter, which she brushed past with a deep breath and walked to her room. Her solution would be to use her en suite bathroom to have a cold bath and focus her Aura to heal her wound in the physical sense. While no one could see the wound when it would be healed, she would still know that it happened. Winter took off her clothes and wore her silk bathrobe and prepared a cold bath. Not only because she preferred the cold to the heat, but the cold meant that she could focus on her own problems and forget about the outside world. She put in a decent amount of morning frost scented bath soap that began to bubble up as she swirled the water.

Once she had a deep bath, she took off the bath robe and examined her wound. The gash was harshly drawn on her rib side. She gently ran a hand over it which caused her to gasp in pain. When her hand reached the bottom it caused it to rupture and begin to bleed. She placed her palm softly over it and lay down in the bath tub. She shimmied down so that her face barely reached out of the water and foam. She closed her eyes as she ignored the pain of the water on her injury. She could only imagine the gaseous looking blood swirling around the bath from beneath her hand. She began to take deep breaths as she focused on all she had been told. Her father could not dictate her whole life. She was in charge of her own life, not him. She thought back to her younger years when her father had taken control in many occasions. All these times he had stepped in and made a decision for her that she disagreed with. She screwed her eyes and changed focus back to her Aura. Her body lightly glowed as a fresh web of skin crawled over the injury making it look completely new. She sighed, exhausted from the strain of healing herself. She then returned her focus to her predicament of her life.

She looked at all she had learned and gave herself two choices.

Choice one: Completely give in to her father, become his puppet and lived her life in eternal sadness.

Choice two: Get out. Just get out. Run as far as she could and don't look back and be free.

Winter got up out of the bath, let the water out, put a towel then robe on and left to stand in her room to mull the matter over. She paced back and forth as she weighed up the options. Really in hindsight the situation was a no brainer, but the consequences if it went wrong could be drastic.

Nevertheless. She was going to run.

Winter sighed lightly and got dressed. She put on a very usual outfit. Simple white heels, a knee long light grey skirt, a white singlet mostly hidden by a light blue long sleeved blouse and a usual company logo hair tie. She thought about all the things needed to do. She began to pack a relatively large sized backpack with a lot of essentials that she would need to survive on her own. It was well filled so that it was easy to close and an easy weight to lift. She then put some important and sentimental objects that were close to her heart into a small satchel.

She then had a sudden realisation of something she needed to do. Something it had been a long time since she had done. She left her bags on the floor of her room, picked up her school sword and walked off through the halls. She reached her destination with slight familiarity. It had really been a long time since she was last there. Her mother's study door had barely been touched since her death, only locked. Winter looked at the door and checked how it was locked. Only a single lock seemed to be holding it shut by the door handle. She raised her sword and swung it cleanly down through the crack of the door, splitting the lock from the door. She lightly pushed the door open with the tip of her sword and stepped into the room.

It was dark but luckily the power was still going to the room. Winter flicked on the lights and basked in the familiar memories. The room was almost completely as it had always been. Bookcases covering the walls except for the wall opposite her desk which had a large map sprawled across the free wall with pins and string connecting clues and leads for her job artistically drawn over it.

The only vivid thing that stood out as a anomaly was a box on her mother's desk that was covered by her mother's navy militaristic coat - and on top of that was one of her mother's swords. Winter walked over to them and picked them up. They had never found her mother's other sword, it went missing when she died. She picked it up and ran her hand down the side of the blade. It was heavier than the swords she was used to, but she still felt a familiarity. Like her mother had left some kind of emotion in the sword. She placed the sword in the desk and lifted the coat. It was relatively undamaged, only slight amounts of dust and burnt patches lightly decorated over it. She turned it around and tried it on. It was a alright fit but being a trench coat and Winter not as tall as her mother was, the tail of the coat trailed on the ground. She sheathed the sword she had placed on the desk and turned to leave, but another object caught her eye.

Winter picked up the photo frame she had spotted and inspected the captured scene. It was one of their family photos. These were traditional to mark special events like the celebration of the Winter Festival or a newborn. This particular photo had been taken when Weiss was born. Winter smirked as she saw that her father's usual upright and strict manner showed, but he still stood away from the family, proving to anyone who knew how much he disliked Weiss. Winter then focused on the remaining people who sat together. Winter sat upon her mother's knee, and Winter was holding Weiss. Winter was smiling happily at the camera, while Weiss' face was confused as to what was going on. Their mother however was the most interesting. She looked so happy, like she loved being with her girls. Winter teared up a little at the thought of her mother's pain of being forced into this lifestyle. Winter now knew her mother mustn't have been happy, but she knew her mother really loved her children. This picture was all the proof she needed. She put the photograph back down and looked at her mother as she wiped the tears away.

"I will make you proud mother...", she weakly said before turning on the spot and letting determination take hold and give her energy.

When she got back to her room, she had her plan already laid out. Winter grabbed the backpack and satchel and put them on securely before looking back at her old sword on her bed. She picked it up and fondly dwelled on the memories they had, before throwing it cleanly at the wall where it stayed stuck silently. She unsheathed her mother's sword and checked the cartridge. It was full, which meant she only had ten shots of blue Dust in it before she would need to buy more ammunition.

She aimed the sword at her bedroom window and pulled the concealed trigger. A crystalline clump of ice expanded out from the sword and gelatinously landed over the window. Winter smiled at her handy work as she stepped back so she stood at the wall opposite the window. Winter took a deep breath and focused on what she was about to do. This was the point of no return. If she did this, everything would change.

She inhaled a deep breath and focused on the plan. A large glyph appeared behind her, spinning around and making a light rumble sound similar to a windy storm. She was glad she had mastered her favourite move. The cannonball charge. She released the glyph and leapt from it. Mustering the speed given to her by the glyph, she stabbed the sword forwards as she reached the window. The window and part of the wall shattered away and she shot through the debris, flying through the stormy winters air relatively quietly. The wind caught dramatically around her mother's coat and flapped like wings. She flew through the air and landed on the side of the wall that surrounded the Schnee estate.

Winter couldn't lose focus as she summoned up more glyphs all the way up the wall and darted up all the way to the top. She leapt down on top of the wall and saw some of the guards who patrolled at night in a nearby tower. They seemed to be playing some sort of card game and arguing about some kind of misunderstanding about who moved some paintings. One guard was trying to ask the guys if they even thought about why they were there. Winter smiled and took her chance while they hadn't yet noticed her, and she darted to the other side of the wall, jumping up onto the railing and gently falling off the edge. She fell head first as she stared at how far she had until she hit the ground. She wrapped her arms around the edges of her coat and spread her arms wide. The coat managed to glide her to levelling off but she was still falling downwards. She focused on some glyphs to appear in the air in front of her to catch her on her descent and speed her up to the nearest roof top.

The plan worked, until she got to the roof where the wind caught her as she was just about landed. It threw her sideways and forced her into a rolling crash of a landing onto the roof. She grunted as she wasn't focused on that kind of landing and her Aura wasn't activated which made her hand have gashes and scrapes. The rest of her was just sore. She refocused her Aura to her hands which healed up with a light glow.

She cautiously stood and looked back at where she had come from. She could hear a distant alarm coming from the main building and the tower projected the commotions of the guards preparing to search out what the noise was. Winter couldn't waste time. She ran to the edge of the building and looked down. This building was bare, but the opposite building had a fire escape ladder she could jump to. She crouched, leapt the gap and grabbed the ladder. It rattled as it was slightly rusty and she took no time in waiting to slide all the way down while holding the sides. She landed heavily at the bottom thanks to the momentum she had gained sliding down.

She looked around at the alley she had landed in. It was dirty. She had never seen a place so dirty, the worst she had seen was her private school bathrooms, but even they were consistently cleaned. The smell was so bad she had to cover her mouth and nose with her hand, and breathe in only through the nose. And yet, she couldn't help but smile. She had been outside of the manor before but always followed by her father's personal guards. She thought the place was so foul. It was like nothing she had ever experienced before. Remembering the alarms she had just raised in the manor, she came to the conclusion that she couldn't hang around. She adjusted her hood to hide her face and hair and brought the collar up high to cover her mouth. She took in a stifled deep breath to avoid the smell and calmly walked down the alley way and onto the footpath, heading down towards the riverside.

* * *

 **OH! and a hidden RVB easter egg :D Not a Halo fan, but I love the show. Anyway, until next time, where a dusty scythe weilder may turn up, but not quite so old...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Back with a second chapter! I am enjoying this story so far. I am open to all criticism and reviews. I like hearing what you say about it and what you're thinking.**

 **I will point out, obviously, my Schnee family tree is different to the show. Currently in this time it is Daddy Schnee, Winter, and Weiss alive, her mother is dead and...I know I could have Whitley in this universe, but I don't think I will. I am guessing he is younger than Weiss so he could turn up but I don't think I will be having him (flash forward to me contradicting myself...)**

 **Still thanks to my sister for being an awesome editor, she is teaching me so much by pointing out my errors and making me change it. And obviously, I didn't create all this, much love to Monty Oum.**

* * *

 _One week later_

It had taken time, but Winter was getting used to this different life. For a large part of her life, all she had to do was ring a bell and a servant would be there to help. Sometimes it would be Klein with his ever happy face smiling in through the door, but in recent days he had been preoccupied with Weiss. Winter didn't mind that he had taken Weiss under his wing as he had once done with her when she was little. It kept her mind at ease and eased the ache of leaving her. Honestly, it was a better option than her father, he could really be cruel after a bad day. But at home, all Winter had to do was press a button and her wish was done. But here in this dingy, unkempt, and poorly decorated room, she would have to work.

Winter finally opened her eyes and looked around the small room. She found it hard to believe people paid money to stay in places so filthy. Not that she was complaining, this was probably the last place her father would come looking for her, but it wasn't great either. Even if her father wouldn't personally come here, she knew he wouldn't give up so easily. She sat up as memories swirled through her mind.

What had begun merely as phone calls that consisted of her father saying, "Just get it done", had evolved into Winter waking late one night as a visitor approached the manor, with a sniper in one hand and a bloodied bag in the other. He showed her father the contents of the bag, and he nodded in return and handed over a suitcase of lien. Then, he left. Winter had heard rumours at the office when she had accompanied her father that after her mother's death, he had some... less than moral business standards - but now, she could safely say he definitely did. Winter couldn't exactly talk to anyone about it as she knew what her father would think of it. It wasn't exactly in the Schnee way to go to anyone to air your family's dirty laundry. And even if she had told anyone, he would probably have had the same man with the sniper pay them a visit. So, she would say silent. She leaned over and checked that her mother's sword was still under the mattress. Feeling the familiar handle made her feel safe and calmed her.

She got up and got dressed, pulling the blue hood over her face as she left her room. This inn had been the safest bet she had of hiding. It was in a less than desirable area in the outskirts of town by the river. She was learning very quickly, as she had only found the place by seeing sailors being enticed into hotel rooms by risqué women. This had made it the perfect spot in her mind, as it would be the last place her father would look for her - but it was also a great place to start learning how the world really worked. She was laughed at for the curtsey and thanks she would finish any conversation with. When she had asked for a room, the innkeeper belched a single loud laugh and said, "It's my job, what else am I gonna do?"

For the rest of the week, she had been walking around the river and watching people work through their lives, as she kept her eyes out for anyone who could have been looking for her. It fascinated Winter, as they all had to do so much. One woman was doing the washing as well as watching her two kids. Winter didn't need to know the story, but she could tell the woman was a widow and was doing all this work on her own. Winter was fascinated to see all the jobs that needed doing in a normal family. She had seen movies and taken glances out the window on trips into town at normal people and their houses and it had always confused her. But as she was learning more and more these days, Winter had been incredibly lucky to be born into a rich family with servants. Life was tougher than she had thought, but that only gave her more determination to learn.

She reached the ground floor and looked around. She must have slept through it, but the evidence of a bar fight was strewn across the room. Parts of chairs lay shattered over tables. Broken glasses were sprinkled over the floor. Blade cuts and bullet holes decorated the walls and surfaces. Passed out people - probably sleeping off the alcohol - were artfully placed over the room.

Winter carefully tiptoed over to the bar, glass crushing beneath her shoes. She sat down on a stool and dinged the bell placed on the bench. There was a few groans from the people around the bar, one poor soul muttering "Fuck off, I don't want to go another round..." Winter's mouth dropped open, still getting over the initial shock of the language used in the real world.

At that point, the bar keeper entered from the kitchen. He held a bag of ice wrapped in rags to the side of his face with one hand, and a hearty plate of breakfast in the other.

"Well if it isn't little miss popular and mysterious..." his deep voice grumbled. He placed his breakfast next to her, leant on the bar, picked up a fork, and started eating.

"Oh my Oum, what happened to you?" Winter exclaimed as he brought down the bag of ice to reveal a large bruise covering his cheek, with a slash cutting through it diagonally.

"What this? Ah don't worry about it, the other guy just got lucky..." he said as he cut up some toast with egg and bacon on it and shoveled it into his mouth. "I've had worse regardless. But what I really want to know is who are you."

Winter was shocked. She froze and didn't know what to think. She hadn't been expecting this question so early in her journey.

"I...that's not your concern, that's my business," she said with false confidence. She knew it was a poor lie, but it wasn't her forte. The innkeeper didn't seem to appreciate this, his face crumpling up in anger.

"Well it became my business when ten men, real shady assholes, came in here asking about a young woman in blue and where they could find her. Not that it was 'my business', but I refused to tell them. Not exactly my place to tell shady men where they can find young women. So I told them to check down the docks for some more... open women who weren't hiding. That was before I saw the metal gloves he was wearing, and his sword slashing around. He followed up with a good punch and I was out for the night. Luckily it was late enough that the regulars were drunk enough to help out and fight those ten guys. And what you see," he said, gesturing around the room, "is how this fight happened. Drunk masses took them on and chased them out of the bar. Gonna cost me a Oum damn fortune, so: you tell me, is it 'my business' that in protecting you, I have ruined my job and potentially become broke for the rest of my life?"

Winter's mouth fell open when he finished his story. She couldn't believe it. The innkeeper had barely cared when she came to stay and yet if it weren't for him, she would be back where she had started.

"I am so sorry, I didn't mean this to happen. They were after me and you..." she began but the innkeeper held up a hand to stop her.

"Ah, don't worry about it lass. Look at me, I'll be fine. You're not an experienced innkeeper without having a few fights on your hands. They are just lucky I didn't get to my weapons." He pulled out a cross between two guns, that were a magnum and an axe. "But now all that has been explained, I really want to know. Who the hell are you?"

Winter opened her mouth, but paused and thought before speaking. She brought her hands up and lowered her hood, revealing her Schnee hair and hair pin, but more importantly her face with her eyes welling up. Now his mouth dropped open.

"You're...you..." he stammered, but Winter interrupted.

"I'm Winter," she said - he obviously knew her surname but she kept going. "I'm... I'm going on a journey, and you can probably guess my father is not happy that I am doing so without his permission. I am so, so sorry this happened to your bar. Take this." She placed small bag of lien on the bar next to his breakfast, and he dropped his fork which clattered to the ground. The scare made her bring the hood back up over her face.

"Oum damn it, I've got tied up with a Schnee in a incident..." he muttered before addressing her, looking at the plump bag of lien. "I'm sorry for being so rude to you... but I think it's best you move on..."

Winter opened her mouth to argue, but the bar door was suddenly kicked open and a bloodied man covered in bruises and ripped clothes barged in. He was holding a sword in a gauntlet clothed hand. He was followed by five new men who were wearing ripped worn down clothing and holding small axes in each. The sword wielder pointed said sword at Winter and yelled, "I knew you had seen her Anthill, get her!"

The man with the sword dashed forwards towards the pair, when he was hit square in the chest with a orange dust blast that sent him flying back out the door. Winter turned to look at Innkeeper Anthill. He was holding his smoking magnum axes aimed straight at where the man had been.

"That's for the slice and punch, you lucky bastard... Winter, go! I'll hold these rookies off." Winter was so caught up in the moment that she knew it was best that she run.

As the five remaining men dashed towards Anthill with axes raised, Winter yelled, "Thank you for everything..." but she doubted he could hear her as he began unloading round after round at the men. She dashed up the stairs, ran into her dusty room, and locked the door. She dove onto the bed and put on her mothers sword as she unsheathed it. Every option opened up in her mind. She remembered seeing a cellar door exit out the back of the inn when she was walking past it when she first booked in. She ran back towards the door with sword in hand, but she could hear footsteps approaching, and the door handle shook violently, pressuring the lock. Winter stumbled to a halt and raised her weapon to the door. The purser took a few steps back and barged the door. It bulged on its frame but held steady.

The pursuer took gasps for air then yelled, "You're gonna make me rich, you little Schnee..." and took another run at the door. Needing more time, Winter pointed the sword squarely at the door and fired a round at it. A ball of ice covered the door, securing her more time.

"Your dust won't help you, bitch!" he yelled as he began to hack away at the door with his axe. Winter turned and looked at her only option.

The window.

She dashed over to it and fumbled the lock open. She then threw the window open and leant out. To her right was the river and the public walking around it. Whenever Winter had been out, she had been readily alert and had not been followed or looked for. She had no idea if the men had back up outside the inn, so that was out of the question. Going left would take her to the docks. Winter was already formulating her next move in her head: stowaway on a boat, and leave Atlas for good. Never come back.

Winter climbed on the ledge as the ice began to crack. As it shattered, she slid off and fell. It wasn't a long distance as she was only on the second floor, but she still slowed her fall with glyphs. She landed in a crouched pose, quickly stood back up and took off down the alley, blue coat billowing behind her.

She reached the corner and skidded around it. As she approached the cellar door, it flew open and one of the five men leapt out and held his axes at his sides, ready to fight. Winter was still running and did the only thing she could. She concentrated hard, and a black glyph appeared over him. She jumped and landed with both feet on his chest and kicked off, sending him flying down the back alley and leading Winter back to the corner she had come from. As she rounded it, the pursuer wall-jumped off the inn and the building next to it and started running directly towards her. In fear, Winter pointed two fingers at him, making a glyph appear underneath him and making him lose his footing. He crumpled to the ground.

Winter jumped back in to the corner, and it was this lucky move that saved her as an axe landed in the wall next to her from the cellar door man. She backed into the corner, pointing her mother's sword back and forth between the two men. She looked up at the building she was under, but was disappointed to see that it was a warehouse. It towered above her at heights her glyphs had never taken her. She looked back as both men approached her, and managed to kick the pursuer in the side of his ribs with a glyph, which caused him to smash into the wall and fall to the ground, unconscious. A small mischievous smile crawled over her face, but was instantly replaced with horror when the cellar door man placed the blade of the axe against her throat. He held her by the waist as she struggled as little as she could without moving the blade.

"Finally caught me a Schnee..." he breathed into the air around her, the smell of alcohol lingering on his breath. "I know a few people who have conflicted feelings towards you. Some want to hold you hostage and make millions, some just want the satisfaction of killing a Schnee. I know this guy who is deadly with a chainsaw..." but he was cut off as a newcomer from the streets silhouetted the entrance and spoke.

"Well that's not a nice way to treat a lovely lady..." a rusty voice echoed down the alley as both the man and Winter looked. A red cape waved in the wind behind him as he walked towards the pair. His feet clacked as he walked in black dress shoes, which complimented his black dress pants and grey dress shirt. A crooked cross pendant was hanging from his neck as he looked at the scene with his piercing red eyes. "What seems to be the problem here?"

"None of your business, huntsman," Winter's captor said, readjusting his grip on the axe as the other man approached. "Yeah, I've heard of you, you're a part of that new team in from Vale... what's your name? STAK? STIK?"

"It's STRQ, and it is my business if I see someone doing no good," the man replied as he ran his hand through his spiky black hair, making sure to step on the unconscious guy on the floor. "And if you know the group I'm from, you know how dangerous we are, so I suggests you run."

The man didn't budge, only pressing the axe harder onto Winters throat, this time with the flat end. It was choking her. She struggled for breath as she looked pleadingly at the stranger. He locked eyes with her, red with blue, and said, "Do you trust me?" Winter didn't have time to think of any reasons why not, and blinked once at him as she struggled her head into a semi nod. "Close enough," the man said.

He moved unbelievably fast. He reached behind his cape and pulled out a large sword, triggered the blade to fall down and aimed two barrels at the pair. He shot Winter's captor in the hand that was holding the axe it. He dropped the axe and grabbed at his hand, as Winter fell to her knees gasping for air. The man let out a bellow of anger, and ran towards the stranger. He grabbed the axe that was wedged in the wall and flung it at the stranger, and continued running towards him. Anticipating this, the stranger retracted his gun back into sword mode and slashed downwards, cutting the axe clean in half and shoulder barged the man back. He was sent stumbling back against the corner, but was raising his fists to charge again when a bang echoed from the direction of the cellar. The assailant stopped and looked in that direction just as a orange staff embroiled with yellow dragon engravings came flying end first into his head. This sent out a shotgun blast of yellow dust when it hit his head, knocking him clean into the wall and sending the staff back to where it came from. It was grabbed out of the air on its return journey by a blonde haired male, dressed in a light orange vest to compliment his darker range pants. He placed the staff into the sheath on his back and walked towards Winter and the stranger.

"I had him, Tai," the stranger said as he triggered his sword to transform back into its default carrying mode, placing it behind his cape.

"Oh sure, how far ahead had you thought beyond that counter with the axe?" the man named Tai said as he brushed off dust from his shoulder plate and adjusted his arm cloth. "Because if you hadn't realised it already, these guys are more agile and trained than that of your average street gangster..."

"I was just about to finish him with a slash into the wall," the stranger retorted, raising his hands to place them behind his head as he cocked his head to the left in thought. "But you're right, these guys weren't your ordinary thugs. They would have killed that guy in there if we hadn't intercepted them..."

"You...I...Anthill..." Winter stuttered as she rose from the ground, only to nearly fall as she leaned on the wall, still deeply taking in air. The pair of men looked at each other. The look between them depicted an argument about what to do. Tai gave the other what looked like a glare, and the other one shook his head sternly in reply. Tai let out a groan as he folded his arms and began walking away down the alley. The other shrugged and focused on Winter.

"Listen, we really shouldn't have been here, this area isn't our job," the stranger began as he lent on the wall next to Winter. "The Atlas police should be the ones roaming the street and taking assailants like that down. Hell, this isn't even the reason we're in town, but I feel like it's something bigger than we ever thought. We just saved your ass, which leads me to assume you don't want to be found. But you don't look the kind of person to be in trouble, so we're gonna help you out - and take you to lunch. You're gonna tell us what you know and we'll sort this out, do you understand?" When he finished he had his hand on Winter's shoulder and was looking down at her when she looked up. Their eyes connected again as Winter breathed out the question on the top of her list.

"Who...are...you?"

"Name's Qrow. Now come with us, we're the best chance you have to stay away from these clowns."

* * *

 **INTRODUCING MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER...QROW! :)**

 **Until next time...**


	3. Chapter 3

**And we are back! I'm gonna have a break over the holidays, but I should be back at it in January. Happy Holidays everyone! :) As always, I didn't make RWBY, much love or Monty Oum, and love to my editor, the best sister in the world :) Enjoy!**

* * *

The walk to lunch was not very helpful. Winter didn't speak as she walked, hooded, with the two gentlemen. They spoke only in looks and gestures. Tai glared at Qrow with folded arms, and when Qrow saw it he replied with his hands behind his head and an adamant stare followed by a shrug. In response, Tai would groan and angrily speed up ahead of the trio. Winter watched these actions unfold and kept to herself. The rest of the way, she could feel Qrow looking at her. She didn't look at him, but she knew he was. It was as if he was analysing her, preparing a list of questions.

The trio arrived at a small restaurant that was slightly in the shadows. It sat by the river nearing the docks in the shade of the alcove it was built into. No one was in the restaurant so they picked a booth inside and sat down, Tai and Qrow on one side with their weapons placed beside them, and Winter on the other. A young waitress came to their table and handed them menus, leaving them with a jug of lemon water. Tai was the first to pour a cup of the water, and offered Winter a cup. She nodded and accepted it. Tai poured Qrow one and placed it in front of him. Qrow eyed up the drink, drained it in one swallow, and pulled out a flask from his pocket.

"Qrow!" Tai said, quickly scanning the room for the waitress or owner, "Never mind the fact it's way too early for that, you'll get us kicked out."

"Nah, I just wanted a gulp," Qrow replied as he took one large swig of the flask before pocketing it, "Lemon water just doesn't burn the same way..."

"What are you talking about? Lemon water isn't meant to - we're getting off track before we even start..." Tai argued, trailing off as he rested his forehead on the table and placed his hands on top of his head.

"Fine, then I'll start," Qrow said as he leant back in the booth chair as he addressed Winter, "What's your story, kid?"

Winter was shocked at how up front he was. Winter opened her mouth and tried to start, "I...I...I ran..."

"Take it easy, there's no rush..." Qrow said in a more soothing tone. Tai lifted his head and leant back as well.

"I ran away from home..." Winter said quietly as she looked down at the menu.

"Kinda figured that part out," Qrow said, red eyes still on her.

"You wanted to help... a runaway from home?!" Tai said, looking curiously at Qrow, more than Winter.

"Those guys were part of Birchfell's hired thugs. Surely you can see that. They were highly trained. She may be able to help us find them and end their crimes," Qrow shot back at Tai. He turned back to Winter. "Why did you run?"

"It's...complicated..." Winter said, still not looking up from the menu.

"Then make it less..." Tai began but Qrow interrupted.

"Who is your father?"

Winter looked up and stared Qrow dead in the eyes, "That's none of your...how did you..."

"You're wearing a Schnee Dust Company hair tie. You're dressed in finer clothes than the people you'd usually find staying in a inn like that. Believe me, some of them would kill for your clothes. So who is your dad? On the board at the SDC?" Qrow said as he indicated with his hands as he talked.

"He is the owner of the Schnee Dust Company," Winter replied as she looked back down at the menu, "I think I'll have the BLT with a side salad and fries, what about you guys?"

Tai spat out the water had been drinking when she dropped the bombshell, but Qrow barely responded, only widening his eyes slightly.

"You're Winter Schnee?!" Tai said, as he wiped his mouth and cleaned up the mess he'd made. "As in, THE Winter Schnee?"

Winter nodded. It was at this point, as Tai's mouth hung open, that the waitress returned.

"Have you chosen your orders?" she said, pen at the ready.

"She'll have the BLT with a side of salad and fries," Qrow said before Winter could begin. "I'll go for the barbecue cheeseburger with extra bacon and a side of fries. And Tai?"

Tai looked between Winter and Qrow a couple of times before composing himself and saying, "Uh, just a bacon bagel and a banana milkshake." The waitress took the menus and left into the kitchen.

"Are you kidding me Qrow? You want us to get involved with the most powerful dust company ever?" Tai said, looking squarely at Qrow.

"We help people right? And if she has those thugs coming after her, they rarely leave people intact, if alive at all. They have quite the itchy trigger fingers," Qrow replied, turning to look at Tai.

"But the mission is..." Tai began.

"The mission begins when Ironwood gives us the intel we need. We can't go in their there when we don't know what..." Qrow said angrily with a red flash in his eyes.

"You're both Hunters?" Winter said curiously. They both stared at her.

"Yeah, yeah I guess we should clarify who we are as well...I'm Tai Xiao Long," Tai said as he settled back down to talk, "You already know that he's Qrow. We are part of Team STRQ from Vale. We studied at Beacon Academy and now we were traveling Huntresses and Huntsmen. Taking down Grimm and taking on missions. We're just getting the team back together, because we were called in to Atlas as a favour for an old friend. General Ironwood is gathering the intel we need before we can begin our mission."

"More like trying to get his shit together..." Qrow mumbled as he folded his arms. Tai glared at him but continued.

"We have a dangerous mission to take care of but we can't go in till we get the OK to proceed," Tai continued. " 'Til then, we've been hanging around Atlas. Helping the poor, intercepting bar fights, saving damsels in distress..."

"The usual," Qrow grinned as Winter turned red with anger.

"Just so we're clear, I appreciate your help but I was not in distress. I had them..." Winter began but Qrow interrupted.

"You had nothing. You put up an okay fight, but you were losing. A good warrior admits that and moves on. Just be thankful you don't have a gash in your neck..." Qrow pulled down the collar of his dress shirt and showed a barely healed scar. Winter was shocked at the damage but felt a strange mix of awe at his wisdom, and shock at his straight forward thinking.

"So you went to Beacon?" Winter asked, brightening up slightly. "What was it like? How well did you graduate? Did you take part in the Vyttl Festival? Were you there at the finals when..." The pair shushed her down and Winter calmed down.

"So that's the reason..." Qrow said, analytical eyes staring back at her.

"Excuse me?" Winter replied, locking eyes again. She didn't know why she kept doing that.

"This is about Beacon. You wanted to go and daddy said no. So you ran..." Qrow said, slightly slurring his words. No doubt, the alcohol was kicking in.

"It's more than that. I got in and he said no, so I decided I'd had enough, and left," Winter replied defiantly.

"Nothing else?" Qrow said, raising an eyebrow.

Winter froze. She knew there was more. All her father had said to her before she'd ran. Her predetermined future, and what he thought of Weiss, came rushing back to her."I...yes, but..." Qrow placed his hand on hers and smiled.

"It's ok. You don't have to say what it is. I get it."

His warm hand felt so good on hers. She wished it would last longer, but the waitress had returned with their meals. She placed them down and asked for money. Winter had forgotten she had left her money with Anthill and had nothing to pay with. She gave a concerned look to Qrow but he raised his hand and paid for hers as well as his own.

Tai smiled and quipped as he paid for his own, "You never pay for the lunches you take me on..."

Qrow and the waitress laughed. Winter managed to let out a slight giggle at the comment as the waitress walked away. They dug into their food and didn't let up until they finished. Tai was first to finish, followed by Winter and then Qrow. Tai struck up conversation with Winter as Qrow finished.

"So Winter, how are you enjoying the real world?"

Winter thought for a moment as she pondered a response. "It's...different. It's not as happy as I believed it to be."

"Yeah, life is a bit like that," Tai said thoughtfully, "The biggest things you see when you look at life - the things that really stick with you - are the extreme and impactful moments. It's either extreme positivity and happy moments, or the really bad negatives. You really have to look to see the inbetween. But that's all the more reason to live and fight. You can't let the negative win."

"Very inspirational Tai," Qrow managed to say between bites, "You should go political, I'd vote for you." Winter giggled as Tai began an impression of being a politician.

"I will not rest 'til our boarders are safe! We will prevail and the Grimm shall fall!" Tai said in an old timely voice, using a sauce bottle as a prop microphone. Winter laughed as Qrow leant over and squeezed the bottle, sending its contents straight into Tai's face.

"Qrow! You asshole..." Tai angrily said, wiping the sauce off his face, and was about to go into a rage, but stopped himself when he saw Winter laughing. Also preventing a fight breaking out, Tai's Scroll chose that moment to ring. He picked the Scroll up to check it. "Aye...the other half...if you'll excuse me," he said as he stood, answering the call away from the pair. Qrow lent back in the chair and looked at Winter's weapon.

"That's a fine weapon you have there. Looks quite unique to me, never seen anything like it..." he said as he peered at the sword.

"Neither had I, it was my mother's..." Winter replied, trailing off as she looked down at it.

"Don't know how much ammo you have left, but if you're gonna roll with us, you're probably gonna need more," Qrow said, holding the back of his head in his hands as he lent back further. Winter's eyes widened as he said this.

"You want me to follow you guys around?" Winter said as Qrow stood up.

"Well, we'd be fools to let you go around unprotected with those kinda thugs coming after you, and you wouldn't be in any more danger following us around. Also, I get the feeling you're gonna need some training with that kind of weapon. If you want, I'm more than happy to teach you."

"I..." Winter started before briefly stopping to think the matter over. This was what she had dreamed of. Travelling the world, fighting Grimm, saving the poor. She was only worried about the trouble it would bring for her new friends. But she couldn't help but feel compelled to answer. "I would love that."

Qrow let out a grunting laugh. "Thought you might. Welcome to becoming a temporary Huntress." He reached his hand across the table to shake hers. She accepted as Tai returned to them.

"What? Did I miss the ceremony already?" he said, as he patted Qrow on the back. Qrow glared back at him before addressing him.

"Young Winter here has agreed to join us 'til we sort this mess out," Qrow said, looking back at her.

"Smart choice. I told Raven, and uh...she was as skeptical as I was originally, so she may take some more convincing. But by the sound of it, Summer was fine with it," Tai carefully said as he looked at Qrow and Qrow looked back.

There was a very brief stare down between them before Qrow patted Tai's back, saying, "Raven will be fine once she warms up to her, they will probably get along. Okay, let's go get some more ammunition - we know a guy."

Winter brought her hood back up as the trio left the restaurant and walked down the river. As they walked, Winter asked "Soooo, what's the rest of you team like?"

"Well, Raven is my sister, and she's...a little dark, but her heart is mostly in the right place," Qrow said with a blank expression.

"That and she's my wife," Tai piped in quickly, "We were out of the hunting business, but our old friend...it was kinda an emergency so we had to leave our kid with my mother and come back into the fight."

"You have a kid?" Winter said in shock. "That explains why you left hunting..."

"Yeah...not exactly the kind of life you want to bring up a kid in, fighting and darkness and all that," Qrow said, with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"Here she is," Tai said as he handed Winter his Scroll. There was video of a baby girl who had long blonde hair, a mischievous smile on her face as she was rolling around in her crib. She was laughing as Tai crouched into frame and began tickling her tummy and she giggled happily.

"Yeah, ain't she a little firecracker? So little and cute, but on the other hand, she..." Tai said as he looked over Winter's shoulder, but Qrow interrupted.

"Here we are, finest ammo seller in all of Atlas," Qrow said as he stood looking at the store front they had stopped at. "Old Man Robin should be able to craft you some more ammunition."

The three of them entered the store with a ting-ling of the door bell, and Winter looked around in confusion. The walls were lined with bookshelves and paintings, not a single weapon, let alone bullet, was in sight. A short old man with light brown hair and thick round glasses came out from the back room, looking down and reading a book as he came to the counter.

"Welcome to 100 Acre Book Emporium, where if you're smart, you'll..." the man began to recite as he walked up to the counter, before lowering the book and looking at the three of them. "Mr Branwen! What a present surprise!" He ran forwards and hugged Qrow, who stiffened and sent an looked incredibly awkward look at the other two.

"Great to see you too, Robin," he said, patting the old man on the head until he let go.

"What has it been? 5 years since you last came in to see me?" Christopher said, peering at Qrow through his thick spectacles, stroking his moustache.

"Heh, not that long Christopher, you're just trying to make me feel old. How's team WEPT doing?" Qrow said, as he and Christopher walked off over to the counter.

Tai bent down to whisper in Winter's ear, "Christopher Robin was a world class weapons expert. Nowadays he just teaches his team, Team WEPT. Not the best name, but he's proud to say they are the best all-Faunus team in the world..."

"And they are, Mr Xiao Long!" Christopher called them as he and Qrow walked up to a bookcase at the back of the store, quickly followed by Tai and Winter. "And to answer you, Mr Branwen, they are doing fine. Whitney still can be a little obsessive about details and get fixated on them, and poor dear Pierette gets anxious a lot. Tai-Gera still loves getting attention and can barely sit still. Ebilo still struggles with bouts of depression from time to time, but as I say! You can't let the negative set in, you can only move forward with what you are and learn as you go."

Christopher peered over the bookshelf and grabbed a big red leather bound book and pulled it back like a lever.

The bookcase split down the middle and opened to a small elevator. The group stepped into the elevator and Christopher pressed the down button. The elevator shot down as Christopher addressed Qrow.

"You haven't introduced me to your lovely lady friend, Branwen," he said looking up at the lanky red eyed man.

"She ain't my lady friend, Chris, and the less you know, the safer you'll be," Qrow said, a slight shade of red rising in his cheeks, but for barely a second. Christopher shrugged as the elevator came to a halt. The doors opened and the men walked out ahead as Winter looked around. This was what she had expected. In the centre of the bunker-esque room was a spotlight on a extravagant workshop bench that was a full circle except for two entrances to the centre. The walls surrounding the room were dimly lit but from what Winter could make out, they were decorated in weapons of every make and model.

"Welcome to the Acre Woods, Christopher makes such fine weapons in so quick a manner, it's like they grow off trees," Qrow said as he waited for Winter to walk with him to the workbench in the centre. The bench was covered in all kinds of tools and parts. Christopher swept over the bench, cleared some space, and addressed them.

"Now I assume you want something specific, Qrow. You know I already have your team's custom munitions on preset. You can go with O.W.L. to go get some from storage."

As he said that, a humanoid robot with a jet pack and wings descended from the darkness and landed behind the two young men. Tai jumped but Qrow barely reacted.

"The girl needs some custom ammunition. Make it ice Dust based, and don't ask her too many questions," Qrow said, still facing Winter and Christopher as he followed Tai and O.W.L, "We'll be back soon, 'k?"

Winter nodded and he turned to face the shadows, following the blue light of O.W.L before they disappeared. Winter turned to face the short man.

"Can you hand me the weapon in question, please?" he said, hand extended towards her. She unsheathed her sword and handed it to him. He turned it over in his hands and weighed it in on a scale. "Curiouser and curiouser..." he muttered to himself as he ran his hands over the weapon. Christopher unclipped the ammo clip and emptied the rounds over the table. He picked one up and inspected it closely. "Yes, yes... I remember now..." he said and he held the round up to his eyes to peer at it in deep thought. He placed the ammo in a vice and pressed a button on the workshop top. A mechanical cannon came down from the roof shadows, beyond the light, with wires and a handle. Christopher pulled the cannon down by the handle and positioned it over the vice. He pressed another button on the bench. The cannon let out a high pitched noise as it powered up, and then blasted a light blue laser down to the middle of the round, splitting into multiple beams and running over the round.

"I'm pretty sure, but I'm gonna give it a scan anyway," Christopher said as he lent on the bench.

"What do you mean you're sure? About what?" Winter whispered lowly, folding her arms and looking at the round as she kept her face hidden from Christopher.

"Well it was many years ago, way before I got this place. I was visited by a man, he never told me his name. Seemed like the vicious sort. Anyway, he brought me a sword that was the exact same as this and asked for some more rounds. Wasn't hanging around for long, but I gave him what he wanted. He didn't talk much and left as soon as I gave him his ammo."

Winter pursed her lips and thought. This was her mother's sword, no one had seen the other one since her mother's death, and it was a unique weapon, so the weapon he was talking about had to be her mother's missing sword. Winter opened her mouth to pursue it, but the cannon dinged and the lasers shut off. Christopher picked the round out of the vice and placed the rounds back in their clip, loading the sword up again.

"It's always a surprise to find munitions I've already worked with, but it's not impossible that it's a coincidence," Christopher said as he placed the sword down in the bench. "I'd hold onto that weapon, the metal it's constructed out of is some of the strongest I've ever seen..."

He pulled a remote out of his pocket and pressed a red button. Several small four legged robots came out from underneath the bench and began crawling over the weapon. Winter jumped and leaned forward to swat them off, but Christopher leaned forward and grabbed her hand.

"Don't be afraid ma'am, the RABBIT drones are just using the scan of the weapon to clean it systematically and effectively. They obsess when it isn't perfect, so don't worry, they will be careful," Christopher said, letting her hand go as she pulled it back. Winter peered at the mad form under her hood.

"Mr Robin, why do you let your machines work on the craft if you used to be the world's finest at it?" Winter asked, watching the drones work.

"Mr Xiao Long exaggerates, I wasn't THE best, but by Oum was I good. I worked in Mantle a long time ago, but when the Great War happened, and I was dragged into the militaries mechanics and munitions experts. I worked on anything that needed to be made, all for the glory of Mantle, right?"

"Anyway, I worked away, and then I met a reporter who had been to the front line. I say met, but she hunted me down and showed me what my creations were doing. I...It broke me down...I couldn't let my work be used for such bloodshed, but at the same time, you don't exactly say 'No' to a military mid war, so I did what I had to. I kept working away. Many sleepless nights, thinking of all those people I killed...I praised the day of the Signing of Peace at Vytal. I was released from work and have been here since, helping the passing Huntsmen and Huntresses."

"This is my escape my dear. I refuse to work for any company, no Atlas government, no military, no Oum damn Schnee company either! These are my friends." He indicated the drones with his hands. "While you may see simple robotics, they are my friends, as well as O.W.L, and my lovely Faunus friends. They are my friends. So to answer your question, young lady: I do not work my craft anymore, for these hands have enough blood on them as it is, but my knowledge I give to my friends and those who fight the path of the righteous. That I _will_ help with."

There was another ding and the drones scuttled off the weapon. Winter looked down at it. The whole weapon was polished and slick. The paint was buffed and crisp and the moving parts of the gun looked clean and freshly oiled.

"Thank you Christopher..." Winter said with a slight bow to him. "Its...beautiful..."

"Ah don't mention it, young lady, it was nothing...Ah! And here is your company." Winter turned to see Qrow and Tai arriving back, walking behind the large owl robot. The pair were carrying a case that Winter guessed contained their ammo.

"How's the process going, Chris?" Qrow said, dropping his side of the crate to thud on the ground, and pocketed his hands.

"I wish you would take more care with that..." Christopher scorned Qrow.

"I don't understand why your bird robot couldn't carry it..." grumbled Tai as he placed his end carefully down on the ground.

"As for the process, it is already done, Mr Branwen," Christopher said as a RABBIT drone walked along the desk with a tool box full of ammunition fit for Winters sword. "Simple as that once I..."

"Already done?!" Qrow said, his eyes widening as Winter closed the lid on her ammo box. "What are you talking about? When you processed our weapons, mine took two hours, let alone the complexity of Summer's..."

"I took shortcuts, since I have already handled the same weaponry. Your team has incredibly foreign weapons from Vale, not like I know everything as well as my home country's weapons," Christopher said as he cleaned his desk space. "As I was telling the young lady, a man came in years ago came in with the same weapon, dangerous looking man if you ask me..."

"What did he look like?" Qrow said, leaning toward Christopher in frantic interest.

"Mr Branwen, I would give you a name if I had one, but he barely said a word, and was wearing full body armour that covered his entire body. I never saw his face, all I saw was a patch of skin when he handed me his weapon and his wrist showed. He had some sort of tattoo that seemed to be a thorny vine..."

Qrow looked over at Tai, who turned to address Christopher.

"Did his armour have an emblem?" Tai said carefully. "Like a logo or something?"

"Might've had once upon a time, looked like a tree. But the amount of rust, paint overlapping it, and what looked like a streak of blood cutting the tree down the middle made me think he didn't very much agree with that anymore," Christopher replied, shrugging when he finished. "Must have been a Huntsman at some point in his life."

Qrow brought his hand up to his chin in thought.

"Yeah, you know what Chris? I bet you're right..." he said as he lowered his hand from his chin. "Anyway, we really are thankful for your help Christopher, but we better be off. A whole world to save and that sort of thing, you know..."

"It was no trouble, a pleasure if anything," Christopher said as he adjusted his glasses and smiled.

"Yeah, and no thanks to your dumb O.W.L..." Tai said, lightly punching it in the arm.

"Mr Xiao Long, my dear friend, did I tell you about the time my previous model CLARA had to lift a small Mantle tank home all the way from Vale?" the O.W.L said in a incredibly synthetic voice. "It all began back in the Great War, you know. She was commissioned to a Mister Gavin Grapestone..."

"I'm...I'm sure she did, and that is an incredible feat but we really have to be going, see you Christopher," Tai hurriedly said as he lifted his end of the crate and pulled it behind him, dragging Qrow behind him, who was carrying the other end. Winter turned to run after them into the elevator. She stopped, ran back and gave Christopher a hug.

"Thank you Mr Robin, just...please remember, even after all you have been through - and I know I don't know you too well - but you are braver than you think, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you believe. If you remember these things, you will be able to keep moving forward and not let your past haunt you."

Winter broke from the hug and looked down at him. A tear dropped from the tip of his nose as he stifled a sob.

"Thank you, my child. Now go, I fear you may be in for a long journey," Christopher said, patting her shoulder. Winter turned and ran back to the elevator.

"You have no idea..." Winter muttered to herself as she entered the elevator with Tai and Qrow.

"You good?" Qrow asked as she entered.

"Yeah...yeah, just...a little emotional and confused..." Winter said as they went up.

"Hey, don't worry," Tai said, patting her soldier, "we'll sort it out, but come on, you gotta meet the rest of the team!"

The inn was a real mess. It had been a mess before, but now the building had scorch marks and holes to add to its...'rustic' impression. Anthill sighed as he mopped the ground. He was more beaten up than the last fight, with half his face bruised and cut, and his arms covered in deep cuts and bloody stains. Anthill chuckled looking at them though, because he knew the stains weren't all _his_ blood. He looked at the puddle of blood on the floor he was currently mopping. He had cleaned blood out of the wooden floor before, but this was more than the normal amount for a bar fight. 'There is more to this...' Anthill thought, connecting the dots of how experienced the fighters were - when the door suddenly crept open behind him.

"Sorry pal, due to the ruckus last night, karaoke will be cancelled tonight as it seems I'll be the repairing the building for the rest of my Oum damn life. We're closed, sorry. Head down to Dan Applesbys," Anthill said, not even looking up from his mopping. He didn't hear the person leave. Anthill placed the mop down and quickly turned around. "I said we're..."

"My boys tell me it was really quite the row you had last night, and that it continued on to this morning," a short man in a pinstripe white suit and fedora combo with a red rose in the breast pocket. "Something about two Huntsmen, and them losing. I don't want to go into details, but let's just say they so won't be talking much without their tongues when I get my hands on those useless assholes..."

Anthill went white as sheet. He reached behind himself and grabbed the mop, swinging it around like a sword at the man, but the effort was useless. The short man quickly grabbed his crowbar rifle from his back and met the mop, which shattered into pieces.

"Clearly you know who I am, so you know that wasn't a smart move," he snarled at the innkeeper, leering at him, even from his small stature.

"I'm sorry Mr Birchfell, I didn't mean to, you kinda scared me coming in like that, you know? I've heard the tales..." Anthill stuttered out, scrambling over the table for anything else to grab as a weapon. Birchfell didn't let up and followed through with a solid smack to the bruised side of Anthill's head. Anthill fell to the floor as a wave of red flowed over him.

"Can't say I'm surprised your Aura is depleted, after the debacle you've been through..." Birchfell said, walking over to where Anthill was scrambling. He crouched down and rolled Anthill over. "So, why don't you save me the trouble of rearranging your face and talk."

"I don't know anything. She was here, and I never knew, and then she ran when I helped her, and then those two Huntsmen arrived and helped me, and they ran off after her and I haven't seen them since, please Mr Birchfell, that's all I know, I swear," Anthill confessed as he used the little energy he had to fidget.

"Don't worry, I believe you. No sane man would meddle in Schnee affairs, so you can live to see another day..." Birchfell said, standing back up and adjusting his red tie.

"Thank you Mr Birchfell, and don't worry, I won't tell anyone you were here, I swear..." Anthill thanked him, amidst tears.

"But, when it comes down to it, you did help her escape," Birchfell said, sliding the crowbar rifle into his hand. "So I can't let you walk away without life threatening damage."

Birchfell brought the crowbar over his head and fired the crowbar rifle, swinging it down and around into Anthill's unprotected stomach. There was an audible series of cracks and a bad sounding squirm amongst something getting torn, which was instantly blocked out by Anthill howling in anguish.

Birchfell turned and left the inn, grabbing a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiping off the stray blood on his crowbar rifle, and returned it to his back. He sighed as he opened the door and said to himself, "Huntsmen...ugh, they are always difficult to deal with. This is not good..."

* * *

 **Oh snap! Also, I voice Birchfell as Jeremy Dooley in my head. Just like a Boston heavy accent. But I have my work cut out for me, not sure about how to portray Raven and Summer...and their reactions to Winter, but meh! I'm all in for it! :) Please let me know what you thought, I love feedback and comments :)**


End file.
